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Other stories in "Fall"

• Eyes on the skies
  On bluffs and ridges, it's time to watch the hawk migration.
• Next weekend
  You'll find war and peace in the countryside.
• Best bets for the weekend
  In fall, everyone's on the move.
• This weekend
  Drink wine, ride a bike or pumpkin.
• Home of horsepower
  In Wisconsin, see where race cars, snowmobiles, outboards and motorcycles were born.
• Scenery in the studios
  On autumn art tours, treasure hunters strike gold (and orange and red).
• Follow a wine trail
  On fall winery tours, sample fruits of the harvest.
• Big birds on the move
  On the Mississippi, tundra swans and bald eagles are heading south.
• Remember the wrecks
  On Lake Superior, gales of November bring haunting memories.
• Join the fun
  With an outdoors club, make friends, see new places and save money.
• Culture in the bluffs
  Follow musicians to four nooks on the Mississippi.
• All quiet up north
  Like the leaves, room rates have dropped.
• On the ropes in Lanesboro
  Try walking a high wire on Halloween.
• Head toward the (twinkling) lights
  At Christmas, tourist destinations pull out all the stops.
• Save on the ski hills
  Get a deal now on a season pass.
• Ghouls ahoy
  On Great Lakes, two haunted ships are spoiling for a fright.
• Hot tip/A different North Shore
  Didn't reserve for fall-color season? Thunder Bay has rooms.

10 great trails to ride in fall

Here's where to get your fill of flora, fauna and fall colors.

It was a classic fall weekend when we rode the Willard Munger State Trail in eastern Minnesota.

It's a peaceful corridor through forest that, on the second weekend of October, surrounded us with a warm palette of honey and cinnamon, mixed with evergreens and the white of birch trunks and milkweed pods. From time to time, we went through one of the small towns on Highway 61, immortalized by Bob Dylan.

But we were among the few bicyclists on the trail. Where was everybody? Probably on I-35, rushing to and from the North Shore.

Too bad, because the Munger State Trail is a destination in itself, especially when combined with a hike through nearby Banning State Park, a gorgeous place that also suffers from drive-by syndrome.

In autumn, nearly every bicycle trail is beautiful and lined by fall color. But here are 15 of the best.

Minnesota

Munger in eastern Minnesota: A lovely ride through forest between Hinckley and Duluth. The 14½ miles from Jay Cooke State Park to Duluth are downhill and especially exhilarating.

Sunrise Prairie in eastern Minnesota: If you ride the Munger, catch this low-profile trail, too. It's also good for in-line skating.

The 10 miles between Stacy and North Branch, paralleling but out of sight of I-35, include bogs lined with golden rushes, maples turning orange, red pines, brilliant sumac, creek crossings and grazing horses on picturesque farmsteads.

Mesabi in northern Minnesota: A relatively hilly trail that passes lots of gorgeous mine-pit lakes between Grand Rapids and Eveleth.

Root River in southeast Minnesota: Goes through the leafy Root River Valley between Fountain and Houston, passing the adorable village of Lanesboro.

Central Lakes in western Minnesota: Between Fergus Falls and Osakis, with lots of prairie wildflowers and birds. Goes through Alexandria and connects to the Lake Wobegon in Osakis.

Lake Wobegon in central Minnesota: A journey through a mythic landscape, with lots of steepled churches, between St. Joseph and Sauk Centre.

Paul Bunyan in northern Minnesota: Lots of great fall color and lakes along this trail from Brainerd/Baxter to Walker and Bemidji.

Grand Rounds in Minneapolis: An urban dream on parkways along the Mississippi River and Chain of Lakes.

Wisconsin

Old Abe in western Wisconsin: A bucolic path along the Chippewa River between Chippewa Falls and Cornell, with heron sightings likely.

Great River in southwest Wisconsin: Along the Mississippi between Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge and Onalaska, over bottomlands and bogs.

Red Cedar in western Wisconsin: A serene stretch along the Red Cedar River from Menomonie to the Chippewa River, through Downsville.

Badger in southern Wisconsin: Slices through cheese country from the far edge of Madison to the Illinois border. Try to catch one of the many festivals nearby.

BATS-Crystal Lake in northeast Wisconsin:

Wiouwash on Horicon Marsh in southeast Wisconsin:

Iowa

High Trestle in central Iowa: 25 paved miles between Ankeny and Woodward, through Slater and Madrid. The trail is named for a 13-story-high, half-mile trestle bridge over the Des Moines River east of Woodward.It's covered by 41 art frames that evoke the supports of a coal mine that once operated nearby. On its eastern end, the High Trestle connects to the Heart of Iowa Trail in Slater.

Heritage in northeast Iowa: 26 miles of crushed limestone between Sageville, just north of Dubuque, and Dyersville in northeast Iowa. The easternmost 12 miles, along the Little Maquoketa River, are most scenic.

More trails and festivals

For a list of fall festivals you can hit along the way, see Bash on a bike trail.

For more trails, see Bicycling Minnesota, Bicycling in Iowa and Wisconsin's bike trails: a guide.

Last updated on September 15, 2011